Martin McDonagh

TIFF differs from Cannes and Venice in that it’s not in a glamorous European city its major awards are chosen by audiences rather than by a jury. So, while critics and industry types raved about Argo, it was David O. Russell’s romantic comedy-drama Silver Linings Playbook that took home the BlackBerry People’s Choice Award—plus $15,000, which we imagine the celebrated director doesn’t exactly need, but will certainly appreciate. Ben Affleck will have to content himself with runner-up status (according to Roger Ebert,Oscar season will likely ease Affleck’s pain). Finally, Eran Riklis’s Zaytoun was second runner-up as crowd favourite. Here are the rest of the awards handed out this year at TIFF, and the films that won them:

There’s more to TIFF than just red carpets and parties. There’s also shameless celeb gawking and stalking, glamorous gowns and little tidbits of gossip that occasionally slip out at parties. Here’s a roundup of some of our favourite moments from the first weekend:

–Writer/director Martin McDonagh wittily zig-zagging around a line of questioning last night during the post-screening Q&A of his film Seven Psychopaths. Other tongue-in-cheek deflections abounded. When asked whether Colin Farrell’s character in the film—also a screenwriter and also named Martin—shared any other autobiographical traits with him, he responded with a laugh and said, “Other than alcoholism, not really.” [h/t Dmitry Beniaminov]

Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths is about a group of socially maladjusted losers and weirdos embroiled in a dog-napping scheme gone awry. But there was no evidence of maladjustedness, or psychopathy, on the red carpet at the Ryerson Theatre late last night, where stars Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Olga Kurlyenko, Abbie Cornish, Graham Broadbent and Woody Harrelson showed up, as well as writer/director McDonagh. Also making an appearance: the Shih Tzu everyone in the film is fighting over. Nothing says glitz and glamour like a cute dog! As for the bipedal stars, Farrell was typically camera-shy, while the glowering Walken was skeletal and half-scary as ever. Harrelson roamed the red carpet sporting a TIFF Festival ’12 cap, further cementing his status as honorary, beloved Torontonian.